Fatal shipping accidents in Philippines

Published by reposted only
Date posted on December 28, 2009

The sinking of the ferry MV Baleno-9 near the Philippine city of Batangas, which has left at least three dead and 22 missing, is the latest in a long list of shipping accidents across the Philippines. Millions of Filipinos, many of them too poor to afford air travel, use the seas and waterways to travel around the archipelago, on everything from massive steel-hulled ferries to wooden dugouts with outriggers.

But bad weather, particularly during the typhoon season, as well as poor maintenance, overloading of vessels and lax enforcement of safety regulations has often brought disaster.

Here is a list of shipping accidents in the Philippines over the past two decades:

December 26, 2009: Three people are confirmed dead and at least 22 others are still missing after car ferry MV Baleno-9 sinks after water enters the bow.

December 24, 2009: Four people are confirmed dead with 23 others still missing as the wooden-hulled Catalyn B with 73 people on board collides with a fishing vessel at the mouth of Manila Bay.

September 6, 2009: Nine people are killed after the Superferry 9 tilts sharply and then sinks near the southern city of Zamboanga.

May 2009: Wooden-hulled Commander 6 cracks open and sinks just south of Manila, leaving 12 dead.